The Comedy That Made Robert Downey Jr Iron Man Is the 2025 Must-Watch You Can't Skip
Think Iron Man revived Robert Downey Jr.? It was the 2005 noir-comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang that won Jon Favreau’s confidence and opened the door to Tony Stark — a film Downey still considers his best.
If you think Robert Downey Jr.'s comeback started with Iron Man, fair. But the movie that actually convinced Jon Favreau he could pull off Tony Stark? That would be Shane Black's 2005 neo-noir comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Downey has called it 'the best film I've ever done,' and honestly, you can see why.
The movie that quietly made Iron Man possible
In Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Downey plays Harry Lockhart, a small-time thief who crashes an audition while running from the cops and somehow lands the lead in a detective movie. He gets paired with a private eye mentor, Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer), and crosses paths with Harmony Faith Lane (Michelle Monaghan). What starts as Hollywood research turns into an actual murder mystery.
Fans have been resurfacing a certain audition scene from the film lately, and it hits the exact notes that would later define Stark: sharp, funny, brittle, and unexpectedly vulnerable. That mix is what caught Favreau's eye.
'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is, I think, in some ways the best film I've ever done. It wound up being a calling card. It came out, and it bombed, but Jon Favreau saw it, and he said, "This guy could do an action movie." And so that wound up being my calling card into the Marvel Universe.'
Downey has kept paying it forward: after Favreau stepped away from directing Iron Man, Downey helped bring Shane Black into the MCU to direct Iron Man 3. Not a bad arc for a movie that barely made its budget back.
So what is the movie, actually?
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a slick, fast-talking LA noir that doubles as a Christmas-adjacent buddy comedy. Harry and Perry stumble onto a body being dumped during what was supposed to be a fake stakeout, and then everything spirals in the most entertaining way. The tone is light on its feet, the action pops, and Downey locks into a performance that feels like a dry run for Tony Stark without feeling like a copy of it.
Why it still works right now
- Downey and Kilmer have real-deal chemistry, on and off camera. Kilmer even stayed off alcohol during the shoot to support Downey's recovery.
- Shane Black tuned the script for pace: he reportedly built in big jolts roughly every 28 to 30 minutes so your attention never drifts.
- It doubled as Downey's comeback reel. Even though the movie underperformed, it directly led to Iron Man.
- Underrated status: made for about $15 million, it earned $15.8 million worldwide — basically a rounding-error profit.
- Strong receipts with critics and audiences: 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, 7.5/10 on IMDb, and 73 on Metacritic.
- Based on Brett Halliday's novel 'Bodies Are Where You Find Them,' so the mystery has some sturdy bones under all the banter.
How Downey even landed the role
Rewinding for a second: Downey's 90s were rough. He was arrested in 1996 for possession of heroin, cocaine, and an unloaded .357 Magnum, violated parole more than once, and in 1999 was sentenced to three years in prison. He got clean, leaned on help from friends like Mel Gibson, and clawed his way back into work. On 2003's Gothika, a chunk of his salary was withheld until he finished the shoot as a precaution while he battled through recovery.
Somewhere in there, Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang script found him. Studios had already passed on it until producer Joel Silver said yes. Before Downey got the part, names like Benicio del Toro, Hugh Grant, and Johnny Knoxville were considered. Downey heard about the role from Susan Downey, who was working for Silver at the time, and he nailed the read. The deciding factor was partly practical: he fit the movie's small budget. For context, he was reportedly offered $500,000 for the first Iron Man, which suggests Kiss Kiss Bang Bang paid in that ballpark or less.
The bigger picture
Downey never stopped crediting the movie for changing his trajectory. From that calling card, he rebuilt his career, eventually winning an Oscar for Oppenheimer and, per reports, lining up a $100 million payday for an Avengers movie titled Doomsday. Not bad for something that, at the time, was considered a box-office disappointment.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is available to rent on Amazon and Apple TV if you want to queue it up for your holiday rotation.
Quick facts
Director: Shane Black
Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen
Box office: $15.8 million worldwide
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
IMDb: 7.5/10
Metacritic: 73